This week saw the much anticipated arrival of our newest Dragon now named Penny. Like Lolly and Beau she is a Bearded Dragon. After going through what was a surprisingly straight forward process of getting licence and import permits sorted, I gratefully took possession of Penny, a 4 week old female hypo (hypomelanistic) Dragon.Hypomelanism is a recessive genetic mutation in some animals causing malfunctioning melanin (pigment) production or problems with its transport to pigmented cells. What does this mean in practical terms? Melanin is the thing that browns us when we tan. It also makes the patterned markings on Bearded Dragons as well as other things on them dark. A Dragon that has a genetic mutation that either inhibits the production of melanin or the effective transport of melanin to the parts of the body that it would otherwise darken is said to be hypomelanistic. Where this is the case, the animal will generally appear lighter all round.
There are some key factors in determining if a Dragon is definitely hypo. A Dragon can be lighter and indeed almost white, without being hypo. As this is a genetic trait rather than polymorphism, which is the term describing non genetic colour variation in animals, to be a true hypo key expressions of the trait must be present through generations. The easiest trait to identify is that true hypos have clear nails on all their toes. Normal Bearded Dragons have black nails. If you have a Dragon that has clear nails, then it is a hypo, the traits are genetic and they can be passed on to future generations through selective breeding. Hypomelanism is not the same as Albinism where no melanin is produced at all, which, in Bearded Dragons, is not a terribly desirable trait as it is something that has the potential to severely shorten their life and generally does. But, that is another discussion. You can find more information on this and other Bearded Dragon genetic traits on this page - LINKY.
After that little science lesson, what we have day to day is a cute little baby Bearded Dragon. Her name is Penny, after her namesake on the TV Series, The Big Bang Theory. As she is so small compared with our other Dragons, she is being kept separately until such time as she can be safely housed together with at least our other girl, Lolly if not all three together. She came to us in fantastic condition with a nice fat belly having been well cared for. From day one she has been enthusiastically eating all the live food I have been putting in front of her, both woodies (speckled cockroaches) and crickets. I will start introducing veggies on the weekend. I was also very happy to see her drinking very well when I have misted her with water. To this point, everything is going very well! In the future, I have plans to breed her with Beau and my mind wonders off at the possibilities down the track with her offspring and Lolly as well. But for now, she is cute, healthy and a load of fun.